In 2001, I was employed for part of the year and used the opportunity to max out my 401(k). I then opened my own law office which I operated as a sole proprietorship. (I worked from home and avoided qualifying for the office-in-home deduction, so I had almost no expenses.) I earned approximately $10,000 in 2001 from my law office. In addition, I maxed out my IRA contributions, and now that I have confirmed that our 2001 income will not disqualify us from doing so, I have recharacterized those contributions as Roth contributions.

This year, I have accepted a position with another law firm and again anticipate maxing out my 401(k). However, although I closed my law office today, I anticipate collecting approximately $10,000 this year for work that I performed in 2001. So may I open a SIMPLE for either 2001 or 2002? If I do, will that increase the amount of money that I can save tax-deferred? --Bob

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